A baker who lives in East Lancashire is over the moon, after one of his pies was commended at the British Pie Awards 2023.
Mark Solomon, who owns Mark’s Artisan Bakery and Pie Shop in Clitheroe, says his black pudding and smoked bacon pie won a bronze medal in the hot-eating savoury pie category at the awards.
Plau in Preston also won a silver medal for their Lancashire hotpot pie.
Mark said: “When I first opened the bakery two-and-a-half years ago I became obsessed with the taste combination of black pudding and smoked bacon.
“I kept messing around with the flavour combination for weeks and just couldn’t get it right.
“Customers love it as it’s really tasty and different from anything else out there – it truly is my own invention.
“Beef gravy and English mustard really helped to elevate the flavour.”
Mark said he couldn’t believe it when he found out the pie had scooped bronze.
He said: “Even to have bronze is such an achievement in this competition as so many people entered.
“I couldn’t beliebe it at first and didn’t think we would win anything.”
Mark prides his bakery for remaining traditional and creating everything from scratch.
He said: “Everything at the bakery is done in house and done properly. We get up at 4am and make everything here from scratch.
“When we set the business up a few years ago we never would have dreamed that it would become as successful as it has.
“I nearly opened it as a restaurant as it was right at the beginning of Covid.
“I always wanted a bakery but never had one in my life.
“The Whalley Road business is like walking into an authentic bakery 80-years ago.
“It’s all open plan and as soon as you walk in the bakery you are in amongst the machinery and you can see everything being made and bread coming out of the oven.”
As well as pies, Mark’s bakery also sells 17 varieties of bread, the recipes of which are taken from around the world.
It also sells chutneys, daily specials, bourekas (a type of filled pastry) and more.
The business has made it to the final three of the Ribble Valley Business Awards, the winners of which are set to be announced on March 23.
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